The view from the top of the Campanile.

Our second night in Florence. It is, of course, beautiful. Spent the day seeing some of the sights, starting with the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) with Brunelleschi's dome. We climbed the 414 steps to the top of Campanile, just next to the Duomo, and were rewarded with a fantastic view of both the dome of the cathedral and all of Florence. These two buildings, along with the Battistero (at the front of the cathedral), are all spectacularly decorated and amazingly large.

The Pazzi Chapel

We also saw the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella; walked over the Ponte Vecchio (the only bridge not to be destroyed in WW11), which is lined with jewellery shops; went to the Piazza della Signoria to see Michelangelo's statue of David (well, it's just a copy, the real one's in a museum) and the Palazzo Vecchio; and went on one of my 'architecture hunts' to find the Pazzi Chapel (I did a history assignment on it in first-year uni) that is located next to the Basilica di Santa Croce - great to see it in real life. In between we wandered the streets lined with old palazzo buildings and looked in shops.

What do you do when you're hungry in Florence?
Eat a gelato, of course! (Even if it is freezing...)

Last night we arrived in Florence around 8pm, so after finding our hostel we went out for dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant (ZaZa's) recommended by the hostel. I had gnocchi and it was delicious - just melted in your mouth. So good (and relatively cheap) that we are going there again tonight to try something else - their menu is huge!

Yesterday we were in Bern, which was also very beautiful - the main part of the city (a very small city for the capital of Switzerland - only 123,400) was on a hill which was partly surrounded by a river and beyond this hills rose up into snow. Unfortunately we didn't have much time there, but managed to see the bear enclosure (only one bear that wasn't 'denning' - hibernating) and the exterior of the Paul Klee centre - the building was designed by Renzo Piano. We also wandered the streets, which were very 'Swiss'.

The day before (Monday), we left Douranenez for a long day of trains. First from Quimper to Paris, a two hour wait there where we had to change stations, Paris to Geneve (Switzerland), and a quick change to Bern. Left in the morning at 8:30 and arrived in Bern that night at 9:30!

Time for tea,

Cześć, Fiona

As promised, the yellow Cadillac.